( 5 reviews )
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( 2 of 4 found this review helpful ) Posted: 04-05-2004
The device comes with high-quality Duracell batteries which will last a good while so YOu have plenty of time to experiment. The pre-installed programs of the device are pretty basic and good only for very simple use, but this device can do so much more - if You get (available for free!) sketchbook or painter applications You can use it as portable art tablet and converter software will turn Your work on it to bmp files and vice versa. The real surprise was that it is even possible to play 3D games on it - I was almost shocked seeing a framerate of abour 10fps playing a game with an engine better then Doom.Still there is some things You should know - while connected to the PC the PDA will create lags every now and then so if You draw while it is connected or play realtime games it might not be very pleasant, but once its disconnected its perfectly fast (took me time to find out - especially for drawing its important not to mess up the lines). Also You should make sure that while the PDA is connected to the PC You see the lightling symbol on the lower left so the PC provides the power. Also every time the PDA shuts down while connected to the PC switching it back on costs battery power so get one of the many software tools on the net to stop auto-off while being connected to the PC.I could say more but I dont want to flood You - I hope this review is useful and I strongly recommend this most flexible and powerful device that can easily compete with most devices that are twice as expensive :)b
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( 11 of 23 found this review helpful ) Posted: 03-27-2003
I would have rated this device lower than one star but...it...does not go that low.This device is not worth even considering for a purchase. Franklin has again shown why no one buys their products unless they are desparate. You must download the operating system before you can turn on the device. The screen is too small and not backlit making it totally useless for any purpose including reading any material from ebooks to newspaper subcriptions.The speaker cost about 20 cents.Further, Franklin purportedly has arrangements with mobipocket and audible.com for content. Dont even bother trying to access the content from either of these sources. Their websites are poorly designed and they provide little usable tech support.Moreover, Franklin tries to rip you off for the flash memory you must purchase separately...
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( 3 of 9 found this review helpful ) Posted: 09-04-2002
I received the eBookman 911 as a gift last year and have been frustrated with it ever since. My main complaint is uploading the operating system into the unit because the unit doesn't come with a CD. Ever since I changed my PC's operating system to Windows XP, the eBookman has be come a bigger nightmare to operate. Because the unit doesn't come with a CD, one must download the operating system. For some reason, the unit doesn't remain connected to the computer during the download of the operating system; this leave the computer hanging. When you attempt to cancel the download, the program will not respond; so, you have to use Ctrl-Alt-delete to end the program which causes more problems on XP. When you attempt to turn off the computer after using Ctrl-alt-delete, eBookman's program somehow prevents the computer from shutting down; one has to manually turn off the computer; and then watch the computer do a scan disk when it reboots.Several attempts, which causes you to reboot the computer manually each time, has to be made before eBookman finally downloads the OS without disconnecting prematurely before the download is complete. Then eBookman has to download the new OS to the computer. Again, eBookman disconnects prematurely during the middle of the download which hangs up the program and which hangs up XP when you try to turn off the computer so that you can try again.When the OS is finally uploaded, eBookman works great except that battery life is short. I purchased last year a power pack which is suppose to run the eBookman from my wall socket. I thought that when the unit was hooked up to the power pack that the batteries would not drain. Guess what, the batteries still drain even when the unit is plugged in, although they drain at a much slower rate. My last complaint is customer sevice. Last year, you could contact Franklin by e-mail if you had problems. This year, Franklin discontinued e-mail support; so, now you have to make a long distant phone call, which isn't an 800 number, if you want support.I don't think that Franklin really engineered this product well. Spend the extra dollars and buy a Palm or a Sony.
